Wildlife hospital says public light displays are contributing to native seabird groundings

An Auckland bird hospital wants public light displays like the Harbour Bridge and Sky Tower to be dimmed on cloudy nights, to help prevent native seabirds being injured or grounded.

BirdCare Aotearoa cares for hundreds of seabirds each autumn, and believed that light pollution from Auckland was disorientating juvenile birds.

Although light pollution came from across the city, large, bright LED displays were a particular problem, the charity said.

SkyCity - which lights the Sky Tower - has subsequently agreed to meet with BirdCare to discuss the issue and how it might be able to help.

BirdCare hospital staff member Catriona Robertson said groundings were most common on overcast or rainy nights when the moon was obscured and light reflected off cloud cover.

"Driving at night in the rain we've probably all experienced the way the lights flare off a little bit more than usual, so for these guys it's a confusion factor where they think they're heading towards the moon or some sort of light source that would usually guide them home and then they crash-land."

Petrels and other seabirds needed high points such as a cliff to launch from - so once on the ground in an urban area, found it difficult to take off again, she said.

They might injure themselves upon crash-landing, and could also quickly lose their water-proofing and struggle to find food.

BirdCare fundraising manager Rashi Parker said while grounded birds were found by volunteers and the public across Auckland, the organisation's data showed a concentration in the CBD, where lights were brightest.

She pointed to public light displays like the Vector lights on Auckland Harbour Bridge, and the Sky Tower, where lighting was doubled in 2019 when SkyCity switched to LED lighting.

"It's brighter now across SkyCity and it's a hotspot of seabird groundings," Parker said.

A dedicated volunteer 'petrel patrol' headed out most mornings during peak fledging season to check for grounded seabirds in the SkyCity precinct and the surrounding streets.

"This year we've had six. A few years ago there were six recovered in one night," Parker said.

Research in New Zealand and overseas showed the slight flicker of LED lights, along with the blue light spectrum, were particularly attractive to seabirds.

"We need a thriving and bustling city, but it's about the use of the colour spectrum and it's also in timing and the frequencies," Parker said.

BirdCare wanted companies with light displays or bright-lit branding to consider dimming or turning off their displays on overcast or rainy nights, especially during autumn, Parker said.

She pointed to an initiative in Kaikōura, where the coastal South Island town has just introduced new lighting regulations, which aimed to prevent annual groundings of Hutton's shearwaters.

A large proportion of seabirds brought to BirdCare were Cook's petrels, a smaller petrel species that fledged during autumn, Parker said.

"These are little babies... They've just left their nests over on the Hauraki Gulf islands and they're just doing their first round of test flights, their maiden voyages before they embark on that big journey [across the Pacific]."

BirdCare's patients also included the nationally vulnerable black petrel (tākoketai/tāiko), which only nested on Aotea/Great Barrier Island and Hauturu.

Since 2018, the hospital has looked after more than 50 tākoketai, of which nearly half died or had to be euthanised.

Vector, SkyCity and Ports of Auckland were among groups invited to a meeting to discuss the issue last week, but either declined to attend or did not respond.

After RNZ made enquiries, SkyCity had now organised a meeting with BirdCare next week.

"In the past couple of months a few of our team have taken three grounded seabirds they found around our precinct to the vet so we're keen to learn more how we, and other businesses in the CBD, can help," a spokesperson said.

"We're open to suggestion in how we work together."

Vector Lights said prior to the launch of the harbour bridge display, the organisation did consider the impact on birdlife.

"While the advice we received didn't recommend any specific actions, the light levels have been operating at around 50 percent intensity since then in consideration of environmental factors," a spokesperson said.

Vector Lights was part of a smart energy partnership between Vector, Auckland Council and Waka Kotahi and would consider the research BirdCare had shared with it, the spokesperson said.

A Ports of Auckland spokesperson told RNZ that, as a round-the-clock operation, the port needed a certain level of lighting for employee safety.

"Over the past decade we have upgraded all the port lighting to low-glare LEDs which has reduced light throw considerably."

The lighting on vessels coming into the harbour, such as cruise ships, was based on international and Maritime NZ regulations, but the port did ask ships to reduce their lighting as much as possible, the spokesperson said.

Rashi Parker said Ports of Auckland had also contacted BirdCare to encourage it to apply for one of its Te Moananui o Toi grants.

However, she was disappointed none of the companies invited had come along to last week's meeting.

"It's not a guilt-trip as much as it is a discussion. It's about changing their lighting, particularly during the autumn season."

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